A Texas man whose kidnapping plan was foiled when his victim scrawled "Help Me!" on a note was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison.
Steven Robert Sablan, 63, plead guilty in January 2024 to kidnapping the victim, who was walking along a street in San Antonio on July 6, 2023, when Sablan pulled up in his car, displayed a handgun, and forced her into the trunk of his Nissan Sentra, prosecutors stated.
Sablan then drove the victim from Texas to Long Beach, California. Sablan sexually assaulted the teen victim multiple time, prosecutors stated.
"Mr. Sablan took this young girl from the safety of her Texas home and repeatedly sexually assaulted her at gunpoint throughout a lengthy drive of terror to California," said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The FBI will not tolerate sexual deviants who exploit our children at will and – as in this case – will hold these violent offenders accountable."
On July 9, 2023, in California, Sablan stopped at a laundromat to wash his and the girls' clothes, FOX-4 reported. While in the laundromat, the girl wrote "Help Me!" on a note and held it up. Good Samaritans saw the note and took action, calling 911.
Sablan was arrested at the scene. The gun used to threaten and control the girl turned out to be a BB gun. Police found silver handcuffs in Sablan's back pocket, FOX-4 reported.
"The 35-year sentence imposed ensures this defendant will not have the opportunity to victimize children," said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. "There is nothing as important as protecting our young people. I commend our federal and local law enforcement partners for their efforts to secure justice here."
Prosecutors said that Sablan was a complete stranger to the victim.
"[Sablan] violently abducted a child and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while driving her thousands of miles from her home," prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. "And while [Sablan] spent days abusing her for his own pleasure, her parents agonized over their missing child, fearing the worst. The worst was not far from reality."
